


Fear, Pain

by crow_feathers



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Don’t copy to another site, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-22 04:49:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19660153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crow_feathers/pseuds/crow_feathers
Summary: “You killed my family,” Gadget says, voice flat.





	Fear, Pain

“Fear, then pain,” Gadget repeats to himself. The wispon in his paw feels heavy, but he doesn’t dare drop it. He clutches it tighter.

He had begged his parents relentlessly for his very own wispon as a much younger pup, long before the war broke out. They told him no, they aren’t toys, you’ll end up hurting yourself or someone else. His sister Julie comforted him by finding a stick from the backyard and declaring it a wispon before pretending to shoot him with it. He’d laughed and promptly fetched his own stick, easily forgetting his disappointment.

That was three years ago.

Infinite is lying just feet away from him, a twisted, bloody heap. He’s breathing, but just barely. His chest heaves unsteadily with each ragged breath. The jackal is facing him, sort of. He’s on his back, but his left leg is fixed in an unnatural angle, definitely broken. His head is set in Gadget’s direction, and Gadget can’t tear his gaze away from Infinite’s.

The weapon in his paw should feel reassuring. It doesn’t. It feels heavy, like another burden. He doesn’t want this wispon anymore. He never wants to touch another weapon in his life.

Gadget wonders how much longer the jackal has left. He takes a step closer.

“What are you waiting for, pup?” Infinite rasps out, each word a struggle, each syllable slow and labored and so tired.

Gadget’s mind wants him to flinch, take a step back, but his body - and spirit - are too worn and empty and used up. He’s barely slept or thought or ate, after the war started, but he, like everyone else, forced himself to keep going. But now that the war is over, now that the world is done ending, it’s all catching up to him.

So he stands in front of the monster instead, arms at his sides, fingers barely able to keep hold of his weapon.

“You killed my family,” Gadget says, voice flat. He doesn’t sleep much, but when he does, he hears the screams every time. Mother, Father,  _ Julie,  _ all gone now. He hasn’t cried yet. He’s sure he will later.

For a while, Infinite stays silent, and the wolf starts to wonder if he’s finished dying. But then, finally,

“Yes, I did, didn’t I?”

“Julie was thirteen,” he says after a moment passes.

She was thirteen, and she had dark orange fur, and she loved to draw, and-

Gadget finds his arm moving on its own, leveling the weapon at Infinite.

“Are you a killer, child?” Infinite’s words have no emotion behind them. They come out sounding robotic, alien, nothing like a person.

Gadget doesn’t drop his weapon. “Maybe,” he says simply.

_ Fear, then pain. _

“Are you afraid to die?” he finds himself asking. Gadget’s been afraid for so long, now.

Infinite just looks at him, eye fixed on his.

“Or are you more afraid of living?”

Infinite makes a strange, wet sound, and Gadget realizes he’s trying to laugh. His stomach churns.

“War has changed you, pup,” he manages in between gurgles and breaths.

“Yeah,” Gadget agrees.

He brings the wispon to the jackal’s face and squeezes the trigger.

The smell of burning fur and flesh barely registers.


End file.
